Johnny Depp boasts about stealing a role from Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks

Johnny Depp has worked in countless successful films and has been the star of hundreds of projects.

While the actor will be remembered for having given a unique touch to all his characters. ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ would not be the same without Jack Sparrow, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ without the Mad Hatter and ‘Charly and the Chocolate Factory’ without Willy Wonka.

Depp has given all his characters an identity of their own, but maybe some of these films would not have had the same success if he had not been given the role of the character. In one of his films it almost happened, since Tom Hanks and Tom Cruise were the favorites to take a role that finally ended up getting Depp.

In a documentary in tribute to the career of Tim Burton, Depp just had to feature. The two worked together in ‘Edward Scissorhands,’ but it might not have been.

“Cruise wasn’t far from playing Edward Scissorhands… for real,” the actor who brings the title character to life now reveals.

How did Johnny Depp get the role of Edward Scissorhands?

Although it had not yet been released on the big screen and Burton was a highly sought-after director at the time, Depp was hopeful about the casting: “The script managed to break down all my physical and emotional barriers. The text and the character were beautiful. I was very attracted to the fact that Edward was very much like me. It was what I had to do.”

That was the beginning of a great friendship between actor and director, which brought with it countless successes: ‘Ed Wood’ (1994), ‘Sleepy Hollow’ (1999), ‘Corpse Bride’ (2005), ‘Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’ (2007), ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (2010) and ‘Dark Shadows’ (2012).